Sonex* Wing 2
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This time, it's for real. Starting to drill forward ribs to spar. I'm doing this before the spar is riveted, to allow deburring of the rib attach holes in the spar caps and web. 5/16/00
View down the lightening hole. Even here, I see the need to square the wing for skinning - the spar twists easily, and the ribs go with it. (Spar tip was removed for drilling - spacer not in place in this view.) 5/16/00
View of overall assembly. 5/16/00
After drilling. Ribs clecoed in place. Drilling was done with spar above table to allow use of spring clamps top & bottom. Spar was rotated from this view with ribs over the table for easy drilling access. Spar was also loosely suspended from ceiling with twine to prevent it falling off the supports. 5/16/00
Setup for drilling aft rib spacers. 5/17/00
View of about half of the aft ribs. This is also how spar was oriented for drilling forward ribs - ribs over the table, pilot holes in spar accessible from side of table, spar safety-tied to ceiling with twine. (Assembly is upside-down for these aft ribs - it was right side up for the forward ribs.) 5/17/00
Another view. 5/17/00
From here, I had to do some refinement of the inner ribs at the spar (shape to fit under spar cap flanges). 5/17/00
All ribs fitted. 5/18/00
Spacing looks odd between 3rd and 4th rib out - because first 3 ribs are 5" apart - the rest are 10". On the left wing, this is where you step to enter the cockpit. I don't know if it is structurally necessary on the right side (shown here), but this is how the prints show to build it. 5/18/00
View from outboard end of right wing, wing structure upside down. Small strip of metal on table (with tape) is extra rib spacer - not needed for the last rib because the tip triangle fits in there. Shows how slick this airfoil is. 5/18/00
Tip structure - triangle of tip web is on opposite side of spar from main web. White at rib-spar interface is masking tape I used to retain rib spacers for aft ribs for drilling. I expect that lining up the holes through the forward & aft ribs and 2 spacers with the holes in the spar web for riveting (without leaving masking tape riveted between the layers) will be tricky. 5/18/00
Lightening hole through the ribs. 5/20/00
It ALL comes back apart for debur. I thought this would be the last time for the spar, but I have found more holes to drill. It won't be the last time for the ribs either - I think I want to have the ribs only clecoed to the spars for skin drilling - the ability to take the ribs off the spars after skin drilling will make deburring the ribs easier. 5/20/00
